Goldman Sachs sold its Solana and XRP ETF holdings in the first quarter of 2025, a period when crypto markets were sliding. The bank also cut its Bitcoin ETF exposure to under $700 million and slashed its BlackRock Ethereum ETF stake by nearly 70%, to about $100 million. But it didn't just pull back — it opened a new position in HYPE (Hyperliquid Strategies), the best-performing asset among the top 10 crypto tokens this year, up more than 120% year-to-date.
What Goldman sold and kept
As of the latest filings, Goldman Sachs was among the largest institutional holders of XRP ETFs, with a $153 million position spread across four funds. It also held over $100 million in Solana ETFs. Those holdings are gone. The bank's Bitcoin ETF stake now sits below $700 million, and its Ethereum ETF exposure is roughly a third of what it was — down to about $100 million. The timing: XRP is down over 26% year-to-date, Solana down over 30%, Bitcoin down 10%, and Ethereum down 28%.
The HYPE bet
The new position in HYPE stands out. Hyperliquid Strategies' token has surged more than 120% this year, making it the best performer among the top 10 crypto assets by market cap. Goldman's move into a token that's part of a decentralized derivatives platform suggests the firm is hunting for outperformance in a down market, rather than just hiding in blue chips.
ETF flows tell a different story
Despite Goldman's exit, XRP ETFs pulled in nearly $100 million in inflows this month. Solana ETFs saw $103 million. That's a stark contrast to Bitcoin ETFs, which bled $800 million in outflows, and Ethereum ETFs, which lost $260 million. Crypto analyst Merlijn called Goldman's move a ‘conviction statement’ separating winners (Bitcoin, Ethereum) from losers (Solana, XRP) — even though the bank also trimmed its Bitcoin and Ethereum positions. Another pundit, X Finance Bull, noted that the continued inflows into XRP ETFs suggest demand is spread across multiple institutional buyers, not reliant on one firm.
Goldman's rebalancing is the latest signal that big banks are treating crypto assets less like a unified basket and more like individual bets. The bank sold Solana and XRP while buying HYPE, a token tied to a specific platform. Meanwhile, the broader ETF market shows that other institutions are still piling into those same Solana and XRP funds — just not through Goldman. The question now is whether this is a one-off shift or the start of a wider rotation out of older altcoins and into newer, higher-octane plays like HYPE.
